OBNOXIOUS REALITY#2

I half-filled two glasses with 7.62 while Solomon sat at the fireplace. I hadn't seen him in almost two centuries. Why would he want to see me now? I walked to the fireplace and handed him one glass.

"The last time I saw you was in 1864,” I said as I took my seat. "What brings you here, Solomon?"

He chuckled softly and sipped from his glass without removing his eyes from the crackling fire.

"I missed my little brother," he said and produced that smug smile I hated.

"That is a lie, and who made you the senior brother?" I asked, irritated.

"But I am," he said, turning to face me.

"How do the humans say it?" I asked rhetorically. " Yes, by five minutes."

Solomon just chuckled and emptied his glass.

"Why are you here, Solomon?" I asked again.

"I was told you came back to Winekove," he confessed. " And came to make sure you did not get into any trouble."

It was my time to chuckle. Get me into trouble? First, who told him I was back in town? There could be only one person, Alfred. Anger flooded through my body, but I held myself together.

"Alfred told you," I realized.

"Yes," he accepted. "And where is he, by the way?".

"He is lucky not to be home right now," I growled.

"Calm down, Desmond, do not let your rage make you do something stupid."

"Oh, I will kill him," I confessed.

The door swung open, and Alfred stepped in. He smiled as he saw Solomon, but his face was horrified as he saw the rage in my eyes. 

Realizing I had found out what he had done, he attempted to flee, but I sped to him. I grabbed him by the chin and broke his throat. He fell limply unto the porch.

I walked back in, exhaling profoundly, and all Solomon could do was shake his head. I hissed and walked back to my chair, emptying my glass.

"Sometimes, brother, I believe you have lost your humanity," he said calmly.

"I didn't kill him because it would not be nice on your arrival," I pointed out. " I wonder what is more humane than that, brother."

With that, I walked away from him towards the stairs. He appeared in front of me with his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"I am not done talking to you, Desmond," he said.

"Oh, but I am, brother," I said, smiling and tapping his shoulder.

He held my hand and flung me back to the living room. I crashed on one of the bookshelves. I stood up, angered. My brother barely got angry, so I was surprised by his behavior. I stood up, zoomed, and broke a leg on the wooden stool in front of the fire.

I broke it into two and flung one piece at him. He dodged and caught it. I quickly ran and drove the other one just below his diaphragm. He groaned in pain.

"I wanted to stab you in the heart," I spat in his ear.

"Maybe you should have," he said.

I heard a cracking sound, and I fell to the ground; then everything went dark.

••

I opened my eyes, and everything was bright. I quickly closed them again. I pushed myself to get up, and I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Everything that happened yesterday night came flooding back.

Solomon came home, and we fought thirty minutes later. As I sat up, Solomon appeared in front of me in black Denim. 

"Sorry brother, I believe I lost my temper," he said gently while squatting in front of me

"No heart feelings?" he said, offering me his hand. 

I looked at his hand for moments, then grabbed it. He dragged me up to my feet. I dusted myself and looked at his dress once more.

"Where are you going all dressed up?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, Desmond, I told you I came back to watch you," he said.

"I don't get you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I am admitting myself into Winekove high," he said, strengthening his denim.

One thing I loved about my brother, he spoke so gently. I smirked as I thought of this.

"You are not serious," I said and sped off to my room. 

I opened my closet and got out a black hoodie. I removed the black shirt I wore and threw on the hoodie. As I wore my sneakers, Solomon zoomed into my room and leaned on the doorpost.

"Hurry up, brother, or we will be late for my first day," he said, looking at his watch.

"And what makes you think you will be given admission?" I asked, chuckling.

"I compelled the school principal to admit me, Desmond."

Well, that amused me. I tied my laces and walked up to him.

"Ouuu, is it just me, or are you getting dirty, brother?" I teased.

"Are you ready, Desmond? I believe we should be on our way,” he said gently, not considering my words.

I smiled at this.

"Let's go," I said and walked downstairs.

We walked to the lawn in silence. Having Solomon in school made me worry. He would watch my every move, meaning there was no more human lunch for me. 

"Follow me, brother," he said, walking to the backyard.

I watched him as he ambled away. I could reach for him swiftly and break his neck, then lock him in the basement. But I had learned my lesson from yesterday night. I touched my neck; it still hurt a lot.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked, turning around.

I zoomed in and stood beside him. He turned and smiled at me.

"Good choice."

We stopped at the garage, and I wondered why. He lifted the garage door. I walked in and looked around. Everything was either covered in canvas or dust.

Solomon walked past me and went straight to an object covered in canvas. He lifted the canvas, and it revealed a vehicle. Not just any car, a black Audi RS7.

He slid his hand into his pocket, got what he needed, and threw the object. I caught it unexpectedly and looked at it. It was the key.

"You drive," he said and got into and passenger seat. I got in and wore my seat belt.

I stabbed the key into the ignition and twisted it to the right. The engine roared smoothly to life. I shifted the gear and reversed out of the garage. When I got out, I changed the gear and sped off.

"Technology is fascinating, Desmond; looks like magic, "Solomon told me as he patted the dashboard.

I rolled my eyes, uninterested. He acted like he was locked up in a box or coffin for 900 years. I sped through the lonely street in between the forest.  

Our house was in the middle of the forest, far from any human residence. It was safer this way, not for us but for the humans.

We finally reached a road that cars drove in. I swerved the steering wheel and moved into the street. I stepped on the gas pedal, and the engine roared and moved faster. I enjoyed driving this vehicle.

I swerved into our school's parking lot, and the engine's sound tuned everybody's attention towards us. I killed the engine and stepped out of the car, closing the door.

Solomon and I walked, hands in our pockets, to the hallway. Everybody stared at us as we approached the door.

"Oh, my God!" I heard one girl shriek.

I chuckled, and so did Solomon. I guess he heard it too. Well, what would you expect from them? We were probably the most beautiful beings they had encountered in their short and miserable life.

"Is it just me, or is their skin dazzling?" another girl said.

We walked into the hallway and headed straight for the principal's office. We barged in without knocking. The bald man looked up at us and smiled.

"So, brother, what are we here for?" I said, amused because my brother was about to do something terrible.

I smiled and took a seat. The principal looked at both of us, confused. Solomon approached the man and held his shoulders, squeezing them friendly.

"Well, I'm confused about which course I should study. Science or arts", he said, walking back to me. 

I smiled as I watched my brother being the bad one. It gave me an unexplainable joy and was very enjoyable. 

"I would say science," I offered, not wanting Solomon to join me as an art student. He would watch my every move. I wouldn't even have some breathing space.

"True, my love for science grew in the 1800s", he said, nodding.

I grew happy with myself. The principal, on the other hand, just sat there drowned in confusion.

"1800s?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, we are vampires," I pointed out.

"Vampires?" he shrieked.

"Yes, created in the 1st century", Solomon added, joining the fun.

"But...but...but that's impossible", he stuttered, trying to convince himself we were lying. Well, bad luck for him because we aren't.

"We thought so until Suzana turned us into this," Solomon said with a hint of disgust. I rolled my eyes, snubbing him.

"So, Mr principal," Solomon said, slamming his two hands to the table to face the principal and almost breaking it.

"You are going to put my name under the science class category, you are going to forge my admission papers, and you will forget everything we spoke about vampires, okay?" Solomon demanded, looking into his eyes.

"Forge your admission papers and forget about..." he stopped abruptly and bent his head slightly, trying to recall his words.

"What was I supposed to forget again?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing," I said, standing up. "Let's go, brother."

I was always beaming when Solomon did something terrible, and it made me feel like he was the brother I knew before all these happened. I clutched the door handle and pulled it down, making the door open.

As I stepped out of the office, someone slammed into my chest. I heard a familiar moan of pain after the object fell to the ground. It was the frizzled-haired girl again; Hope Wallace.

I clenched my jaw and held my anger inside. Bumping into someone twice in twenty-four hours was too weird to be a coincidence. She stood up by herself and massaged the point of impact, which was her right temple.

"I'm so sorry, two times in two days," she apologized." I must be clumsy."

I just looked at her and sighed. The door opened, and Solomon walked out. He looked at me and then at the Frizzled hair girl trying to put the scene pieces together.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Nothing, I just bumped into him," she said slowly until she looked up at Solomon.

She gasped and stopped massaging her head. She blinked twice and shook her head. She looked at me, then at Solomon. I guessed she was mesmerized by our beauty.

"Em, excuse me," she said and walked past us.

Solomon looked at her as she walked away. He turned to me and smiled. I knew what he was thinking, and only I knew how much I wanted to smack that smile out of his face. 

"Who is that?" he asked.

"I don't know. Let's go", I said and began walking. I placed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie while I strolled with Solomon.

That's Desmond Hawthorne! 

I turned abruptly to where those words came from—a bunch of girls whispering and giggling to each other beside a locker. 

"I heard that too," Solomon pointed out.

"Well, I guess I am becoming popular every minute," I said, sighing. "And so would you."

He stopped his steps solidly and looked at me.

"Give it two hours; you will see," I said.

The bell rang, and I didn't even know which class I was to attend. I heard many girls saying "Trigonometry," so I walked with Solomon to the class.

Solomon and I sat beside each other after we got in and were welcomed by a ruckus of whispers and gasps. We were beautiful, and they knew we were.

The teacher, a man in his late thirties, came into the class with a bag slung across his shoulder. He sighed and kept the back on his shoulder.

"As you all know, I'm Mr. Klassen," he introduced. "I am taking you on Trig now since Mrs. Gladys left town."

The classes nodded, half of them uninterested. That was one thing I loved about the young adults of this generation, and they never found anything educational and exciting. They only wanted to stare at their phone screens and party until drunk. These made them ignorant and, of course, the perfect type to attack and feed on.

Suddenly, a disgusting smell invaded the air, and I grimaced, acknowledging it. I looked up at the class, and it seemed I was the only one perceiving it. I turned and faced Solomon, and his nose was wrinkled. I guess he perceived it too.

"What is that smell?" I asked.

"Werewolf," he gasped in both surprise and horror.

Werewolves? In Winekove? That's impossible? I didn't even know they actually existed.

"I thought they were just myths," I whispered back.

"Oh, they are real," he explained. " I've run into a couple of packs over the centuries."

"And you never mentioned this to me!" I exclaimed softly.

"They were irrelevant till now."

I rolled my eyes and hit my forehead with my palm. Solomon always had to do that. It wasn't even the third time he had kept secrets from me. It was becoming a hobby for him. 

"Do you know where the stench is coming from?" I asked.

He pointed forward, and I traced his finger to a boy with jet-black hair. He was backing us so that I couldn't see his face. I smiled as a brilliant plan entered my head.

"Don't even think about going to attack him, Desmond," Solomon spat.

I forgot that we could read each other's minds. I sighed and rolled my eyes because Solomon was trying to act like a good brother.

"You tend to take the fun out of everything," I pointed out.

"I'm just trying to watch your back, Desmond."

"Hello, I'm over a thousand years old, but you still treat me like a toddler."

"Is everything alright there?" I heard Mr. Klassen's voice say.

All that time we conversed, we talked in little whispers, something humans sitting beside us wouldn't still hear. I didn't realize I was talking with an audible whisper.

"Everything is alright, sir," I assured with a fake smile.

"And who are you?" he asked Solomon.

"I am Solomon Hawthorne, sir," he said, standing up.

"A new student, I see?" I asked rhetorically while nodding his head. "You may sit." Solomon obeyed.

We didn't talk again till the class was over. After the class, we separated. He went for chemistry, and I went for History. I took my seat quietly and placed my hands back in my pockets.

The frizzled hair girl came in with her blonde friend Kate McCullough, and they sat right in front of me, Hope backing me. I heard her heart beat faster than usual and smiled as I watched the adrenaline flush into her bloodstream. My fangs extended unexpectedly, and the pulse on the carotid artery at her neck sang in my head. I was hungry!

I sat properly and removed my hands from my pockets as I tried to fight the demonic but pleasant hunger that burnt in my throat. I bit my lower lip and clenched my hands on the table into fists. I tasted the blood on my lip and realized I had wounded myself. The cut quickly healed, but the hunger still raged.

A brunette woman in her late thirties entered the class and placed her handbag on the table. She greeted the class and wrote the subject name on the chalkboard. She brought out a textbook from her handbag and began flipping through it. As she flipped a page, the edge of the paper gave her a nasty cut on her index finger, and blood sneaked out. 

Oh no! I gasped in horror.

The smell of her blood washed the classroom and flew into my nose. It burnt at the back of my throat, and the hunger intensified. It felt like my throat was on fire. I held the edge of my desk and grimaced, trying to fight the urge to get up to rip off her throat and drink every last drop of her blood. 

"Ouch! "she said, chuckling. "I need to get this to the clinic. Be good kids while I'm gone".

And with that, she walked out of the class. The class became a bedlam of noise immediately after she stepped out. The stench of her blood died off slowly, but I couldn't stay here; it was dangerous. I stood up and walked out of the classroom. The whole class kept shut and watched me leave the class. Humans were extremely weird.

I looked in front and behind me twice. When I noticed nobody saw me or was in the hallway, I sped out. I ran into the forest and sat on a fallen log of wood. The hunger still raged but lesser. I had to eat and satisfy my craving. My heart pumped faster as the thought of feeding flooded my head.

I made up my mind and sped back to the hallway. I saw the history teacher about to walk into the hallway with a bandaged finger. My fangs extended, and adrenaline flushed into my veins. I zoomed in and grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth so she wouldn't scream. I didn't want to draw any attention. I turned her and made her face me.

"Do not scream," I ordered.

She nodded willingly. I held her wrist and dug my fangs into it. I drank from it, and my hunger started quenching bit by bit. The demon was weak and returned to my stomach. The ecstasy I felt was unspeakable. And then I was cut off by a hand to my chest, pushing me to the ground. It was Solomon. I growled in disgust.

"Forget about everything that happened here," Solomon ordered, looking into her eyes. "Go to the nurse and bandage that wound. When she asks you what happened, tell her that two nails from your desk in class gave you that nasty wound".

She nodded and walked back to the infirmary. I laid on the tarred lot watching all these. When he was done, he turned and looked at me. His eyes came together, showing his rage; I smiled.

"You think this is funny?" he asked, walking closer. "You almost killed her."

"Relax, Solomon. I was going to stop,” I said, getting to my feet.

"It did not look so, brother."

"I was in control."

"That is a lie, Desmond."

"Then believe whatever you what to," I said, patting his shoulder and walking back into the hallway.

 As I walked back to my class, I realized something. Solomon was correct; I was too heartless and had lost my humanity.